Overcoming Gohan's Monster
by Sherbs94
Summary: Can Gohan overcome his fear of the Super Saiyan Monster within, or will his loved ones suffer? My AU, starting at the Bojack Unbound story, but without Goku's interference! Summary and title suck, but it's my first fic, please read and review! Rated M just to be sure!
1. Thankyou, Piccolo

**Author's Notes  
**_Hi guys, I'm Sherbs and this is my first fanfic! I'm a big DBZ fan, and you know what they say - write what you know! This is hopefully going to develop into a multi-chapter story (if it's any good) and will likely be the prequel to any subsequent Gohan-based fics I do. I always drew so many parallels between myself and Gohan, and for that reason, he's probably my favourite character. I often wonder what it would have been like if he hadn't stopped training completely after the Cell games, and I think that the events of **Bojack Unbound** are pivotal to the development of Gohan's power. If you haven't watched it (it's pretty good), don't worry, I think I do enough to give you a good enough idea of what goes on, but this story is slightly different from canon, in so far as Goku doesn't even know about Bojack and doesn't intervene from the Other World. _

_Enough of my rambling, hope you enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter One: "Thankyou, Piccolo..."**

Gohan coughed up blood as he felt one of his ribs snap. The pain was horrific, but he couldn't even muster the energy to yell out, let alone fight back. Another rib buckled as Bojack tightened his hold, his green skin stretching around his bulging muscles, his gruesome bear-hug turned death grip squeezing the very life of the young Saiyan. Gohan's vision started to blur as he slipped further and further from consciousness.

_So this is it_, he thought. _I'm going to die_.

The leader of the band of Galactic Soldiers cut a fearsome figure; tall in stature, with brutish green muscle mass, and a mane of fiery orange hair. Despite his hazy vision, Gohan could make out the wry grimace on Bojack's face; he was clearly enjoying what he was doing.

Bojack **was** enjoying himself. He clenched his teeth and squeezed tighter, the feeling of the halfling's clavicle beginning to bend beneath his awesome strength bringing him perverse joy. Being imprisoned in a star for all those years, repressing his hate and anger for the Kais had only conspired to fuel his blood-lust. His wrath had grown so much so that his mind was already wandering, thinking about the wanton death and destruction he could wreak. After he'd finished with the child, the rest of this feeble Planet's pitiful inhabitants would fall under his fist, and soon the Galaxy would fear his name. Once he'd satiated his need for destruction, he could turn his attention to the Kais. Retribution for his confinement would be his foremost goal.

Clinging to the last ounce of life he had left in him, Gohan looked for his friends, struggling to identify the cloudy figures of their bodies strewn across the desolate town that had become a battlefield. Piccolo had fallen first; after weighing into the fight, he'd quickly found himself outmatched by both Bojack's speed and power. Despite landing a kick, Bojack had taken Piccolo by surprise, appearing behind him as the dust cleared from an attack and firing a bright blue globe of energy at the Namek. In spite of his efforts to contain and block it, Piccolo had been overpowered and was propelled backwards by the blast, crashing into a building with great force.

Bojack had tried to kill Gohan's former mentor there and then, and likely would have if had not been for the timely intervention of Trunks. The Lilac-haired Super Saiyan bought Gohan enough time to rescue Piccolo's unconscious body from its tumble to Earth, but it nearly cost him is life. An attempt to charge Bojack had left him vulnerable to an attack from the large teal soldier's henchmen. Before he knew it he'd been ensnared in Bujin's telekinetic thread of energy, the tiny Galactic Soldier's psychic hold rendering him immobile. Bido, the larger of Bojack's thugs had launched a crystalline spear at Trunks, but the apparition of Vegeta, glowing golden with Super Saiyan energy, saved him from a gruesome impalement.

The Saiyan Prince's subsequent attempts to defeat Bojack had been as futile as Piccolo's, and when sent crashing through a building after a series of gruelling blows, he'd stubbornly refused his Son's help. When Bojack unleashed his full power and transformed, Vegeta was easily seen off, pummelled brutally into a clock tower. Trunks, once again ensnared in Bujin's psychic hold, had also been promptly disposed of by Bido and Zangya, Bojack's only female aide. The harsh reality was that none of Gohan's friends had been strong enough to match Bojack, or any of his accomplices.

To that matter, neither had he. Despite his anger at what Bojack had done to his friends, Gohan had barely been able cause any damage to the hulking monster, and when Bujin, Bido, and Zangya interfered he'd found himself trapped and unable to struggle free of the psychic trap. Sure, he got a moment of respite when a capsule nearly collided with one of Bojack's goons, but even fuelled by rage, the sheer number of his assailants had proved too much, and he found himself in Bojack's crushing grip, the tyrant snapping his bones for fun.

As his vision started to darken, Gohan's thoughts drifted to his Mother. She'd be left alone if he died, left alone to raise a child without her husband or her eldest son to help her. He remembered her anguish when his Father had died. She'd tried her best to put on a brave face for him, but her muffled sobs had kept him awake at night for weeks after Goku's death. If he gave up now, Chi-Chi would have to go through it all again. Gohan screamed. The audible exertion of his frustration seemed to rouse a latent power from deep inside him.

_How can I let this happen_!?

He couldn't let his friends and family suffer; he had to do it - he had to release him. Small sparks of blue electricity flashed from his limp body, his hair flashed a brilliant gold as he became a Super Saiyan. His eyes widened. No longer clouded by pain, he could clearly see the expression etched across Bojack's features; the malicious grin that he wore before had been replaced by a look of nervous shock.

That was when Gohan hesitated. There was something else about Bojack's expression that reminded him of the last time he'd let the Monster within him free, and that caused him to pause.

**Bojack was afraid**.

By raising his power level and merely threatening to expose his thunderous, dormant power, he'd made Bojack afraid of him. The look of terror in Bojack's eyes brought painful memories bubbling to the surface.

* * *

Cell had been afraid of him too. He remembered Cell's words when he'd first realised the extent of the Monster's power.

"You're not a boy - you're a **monster**!" That word had stuck with him. The fact that such a diabolical creature had truly believed him to be a monster cut deeper than Gohan could bear, far deeper than any wound the Android could have caused with his fists.

The Monster, though, loved it. He thrived on it, torturing Cell without even having to land a blow. He toyed with the Android, spurning countless opportunities to end the villain's life just to see him squirm in fear of his silent, terrifying power.

Gohan hated how he had treated Cell - it was so out of character; he was, at his core, mild and good-natured, and seeing a creature who had done such horrific things cowering in fear of him just felt so wrong. It wasn't just cell though; he remembered the look on Piccolo's face too. Gohan first met Piccolo when he was four years old, and the Namek had been his first mentor whilst Goku was training with King Kai. Gohan liked to think that he knew Piccolo better than anyone else did, and that he could tell what his teacher-turned-friend was thinking at any given time. However, when he became the Monster, the look on Piccolo's face was one that now made his skin-crawl. His mentor, and one of his closest friends, was afraid of him. Although it killed him that he could have brought about that reaction in Piccolo, it still wasn't the worst thing.

More than that, much more, it was the fact that his recklessness and brutality meant Goku had had to sacrifice his life in order to save the Earth from destruction. His Father was dead because of what he'd done.

The look of true fear on Cell's face, that which was reflected on Bojack's right now, reminded him of what he'd done and why he couldn't risk it happening again. No, he could never let himself do that again.

* * *

Exasperated, Gohan let his head fall back, his eyes glazing from a brilliant turquoise to their natural onyx hue. The golden aura that surrounded him died almost instantly, and his pale blonde hair fell, returning to its deep obsidian colour.

Sensing Gohan's fading power, Bojack released him from his hold. He felt no pain as he hit the floor with a resounding thud.

"No! Gohan!" screamed Piccolo. The Namekian had regained consciousness, but it was too late and he knew it. Much like the young half-Saiyan was known to do, he gave into his anger. His fiery aura flashed and the ground shook as he powered up. Charging ki in both hands, he flew into the air and towards Bojack. Taking the orange-haired soldier by surprise, Piccolo launched a kick into his abdomen, catapulting him skywards, and followed up by firing an incessant barrage of energy blasts of a bright purple hue. Before any of Bojack's henchmen could find any reply, the Namek, with Gohan's battered body over his shoulder, was gone.

"Gohan!? Gohan, look at me!" Piccolo desperately felt for a pulse on the child's neck, setting his broken frame down on a rooftop.

"Piccolo" coughed Gohan, breathless but with a macabre sense of calm. "Piccolo, please... Please keep my Mom safe."

"Gohan, keep your eyes open, look at me!" shouted Piccolo, refusing to resign himself to the fact that his friend was dying.

"Thankyou, Piccolo..." Gohan's last words barely left his lips before his body went limp. The dark clouds above, stormy and swirling from the maelstrom of energy that had been emitted, were the last thing Gohan saw as his vision slowly went white and the last remnants of life left him.

* * *

Far above, the purple cloud surrounding Bojack whipped away in his charging aura, allowing him to survey the ravaged town. He grunted, flexing his shoulders and loosening his arms. The Namek had actually caused him some discomfort with that last attack, but his reticence to pursue came from elsewhere. No, it was the halfling that concerned him. The power that the child had shown in his death throes was unbelievable - it dwarfed anything he had ever felt before. Surely, the other golden fighters who had posed such a trifling threat earlier couldn't be capable of such power, could they? He watched from a distance as the Namek, with the child over his shoulder, made his way over to the violet-haired one and helped him stand.

"Trunks, get your Father. We're leaving," ordered Piccolo, his face stoney and resolute.

"Is that... Gohan? Is he...?" Trunks stumbled over his words in quiet horror.

"Just get Vegeta and take the others to Dende's lookout." His eerie calm gave him a cutting authority, and without any further look of explanation to the youngest Brief, he turned around and took off. Trunks watched him in disbelief. There was no way Gohan could be dead. He was the one who beat Cell - he was the stronger than any of them. Bojack couldn't have beaten him; there was no way.

With thousands of questions running through his head, Trunks looked up to the clock tower where he could just about make out his Father's form draped over some rubble. He turned his head and saw the distant figure of Bojack, still hovering in the air, frozen in place. Yet more questions bombarded his mind as he took off towards Vegeta, still keeping his eyes fixed on the statue-like shape and those of his three followers beneath him.

"Father, we have to go," stated Trunks, as he approached the beaten Prince. He didn't quite realise that the words left his mouth, his mind preoccupied with why Bojack was still just watching them.

"Eugh," coughed Vegeta, struggling to lift his beaten body, despite Trunks's help. "You... Ergh... You go if you must boy, but I will never resort to cowardice!" The words seemed a struggle, but his resolve to fight shone through as he elbowed his son aside for the second time that day.

"Father, please. You don't understa..."

"Listen, boy," interrupted Vegeta. "I am the Prince of the Saiyans, and I will not back down from a fight like some lower-class dog!"

"Gohan's dead." Trunk's retort was blunt. He couldn't bring himself to believe it, but saying it aloud like that made it difficult to shirk. In the future, Gohan had been his mentor, and watching him die there had been one of the defining experiences of his life, but here, Gohan was still just a child, and that only made it worse. At least in the future, he'd lived his life, even if it was spent resisting the Androids. The Gohan in this timeline still had a family and friends, still had a life to live.

Vegeta stared at his son. The Saiyan Prince was rarely lost for words, but he found himself dumbfounded. He'd watched Gohan grow from a very young child, and although he'd never say it, he respected him. Even if he hadn't shown the natural affinity for fighting that a full-blooded Saiyan would have, the child had still stood up to foes whose power far exceeded his own when his loved ones were threatened. And then, when they all least expected it, he'd defeated Cell after they'd all failed. He revealed incredible power, power that surpassed any described in the Saiyan legends that Vegeta had heard as a boy, and had saved the Earth from destruction.

Silently, Vegeta nodded and followed his son. Casting a final look back as they flew off, they glimpsed Bojack's silhouette, just about discernible in the distance, remaining rooted to its spot.

* * *

Piccolo landed at Dende's lookout without really realising he'd got there, with no memory of how he had or any idea how long he'd taken. His mind had been a mess; a cacophony of grief, anguish, disbelief, anger, and countless other emotions clouded his every thought. He must have drifted off course in his stupor, as the others had beaten him back, and were crowded around awaiting his arrival. Staring blankly at what seemed like nothing, he was completely oblivious to everything that was happening around him. Only semi-lucid, the bustle of the others washed over him - he felt like he was drowning.

Krillin said something to him, but he couldn't make out what; everything sounded like his head was under water. He felt Gohan's body being taken from his shoulders, but he felt no relief from its weight. The world snapped back into focus with Chi-Chi's piercing scream.

"**Gohan, my Baby**!" Piccolo felt his very heart wrench as he watched her clutch her dead child to her chest, tears flooding from her eyes. Every one of her tortured cries turned his gut, and he found himself blinking, wishing that it would all just disappear.

He turned his back on it all and stared up at the sky as his world came crashing down.

* * *

**A/N**  
_Yeah, so I just killed off my favourite character and the main protagonist of the story, but not worry - we all know death isn't the handicap in DBZ that it is in real life! I've always thought that being the kind, intelligent, and rational 11 year old that he was, Gohan would have been frightened of becoming a SSJ2 again after Goku's death, and I feel that how he tackles this will define him as a person - something we're going to explore over the coming chapters!  
Thanks for sticking it out, I promise the next chapter will be more light-hearted! This is my first fic ,so I apologise for any glaring spelling or grammar issues I've overlooked. I would greatly appreciate your feedback, thoughts and ideas for improvement, and hopefully this will go somewhere!_

_Cheerio!  
Sherbs_


	2. I will bring him back to you

**Author's Notes  
**_Here it is - I've fin__ally __managed to squeeze out Chapter Two! Sorry it took so long, but I've had a tonne of work to do for my exams.  
__Thanks for your feedback on the last chapter, it really helped me to think in depth about and to address some issues that I'd only given a moment's thought and others that I hadn't even considered!  
__Please enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Two: "I will bring him back to you."**

Gohan opened his eyes. The blinding light that greeted him forced him to close them again sharply with a wince. He balled up his fists and softly kneaded his eye-sockets; he felt as though he'd been asleep for days. Tentatively, he tried opening his eyelids again, blinking as his pupils constricted in response to the light. Once they'd adjusted, Gohan sat up so he could clearly make out his surroundings.

The sky that enveloped the extent of his vision was of a pinkish-purple hue, unlike anything Gohan had seen on Earth, or on Namek for that matter. Gohan looked for the source of the great light that had blinded him, but he couldn't see a sun, or a moon.

His bewilderment only grew when he turned his gaze towards the ground. Stretching in every direction was a layer of pale orange cloud, which as far as Gohan could tell, was seemingly never-ending.

However, something more prominent grabbed his attention. Twisting through the cloud like one of the roller-coasters Chi-Chi had always been too frightened to let him ride, the young Saiyan could see what appeared to be some sort of enormous thread of string.

It wound this way and that, his eyes following it from the distance to right under his feet, and continuing out of sight behind him. It was made of stone, hard and cold against his legs.

Rubbing his face, Gohan stood up to get a better look at the pathway, for that's what it was. Hovering over the edge, he could see that it was semi-circular in shape, the flat walkway on top wide enough in breadth so that he could walk along it comfortably without too great a fear of falling over the side.

The edges of the path were ridged with small stone spines - the underbelly of the path decorated in a similar manner with stone scales. Gohan's stomach turned as he realised instantly where he was.

_You're dead, Gohan. You're on Snake-way, so you must be._

Reaching above his head with both hands, his thoughts were confirmed by the feel of a ring, cool to the touch and almost metallic in texture, hovering inches above his black, spiky hair. His heart sank, and his mind began to race.

He'd been so foolish. Instead of just letting the Monster free and destroying Bojack there and then, he'd hesitated, allowing his stupid conflict of interests to cloud his judgement. In his desperate attempts to avoid hurting those he loved, he'd failed them - he was dead and now there was no one to stop Bojack.

He cursed his naivety aloud, the familiar sound of his own voice bringing him a touch of welcomed comfort amidst the whirl of emotion that bombarded him.

"Great job, Gohan," he said to himself, collapsing on his backside with a heavy sigh of frustration. "You've screwed everything up again. Argh, you're such an idiot!" His head fell and his shoulders slumped, wracked with shame. Goku had trusted him to look after everyone and he'd let his Father down. When asked to be a man, he'd proven he was still only a child.

Gohan wondered how his Dad made it look so easy. Saving the world seemed to come so naturally to Goku, always making the right decisions even if it meant sacrificing himself in order to do so.

Gohan adored and idolised his Father. Growing up, although he'd never loved fighting, Gohan had always wanted to be like him; he'd always believed he could be a good man like Goku was.

Yet, when the time came to step up, when his Dad had relied on him, he'd made a mess of things - first with Cell and now again with Bojack.

"Why couldn't you have been there Dad?" he mumbled dejectedly. "You always know what to do!" Gohan's eyes widened instantly with realisation.

He was right, Goku did always know exactly what to do, and now he could just ask him! Being dead had come through for Gohan far earlier than the young Saiyan had ever thought it would.

All he had to do first was find him.

* * *

Bujin watched as the last of Earth's pathetic defenders retreated into the distance. He glanced around at his comrades, their heads angled upwards as they stared at their leader - his huge form suspended above them, deathly still. It was unsettling - none of them had never previously needed orders to attack, it was just taken as a given, and yet they were all transfixed by Bojack; this had never happened before.

He followed Zangya's gaze. Her eyes were wide with an unmistakable look of concern, worry etched over her features. She'd called out to the boss a few times, but had gotten no answer.

Bujin could see confusion on Bido's face. Well, more than usual. The big guy was never the quickest at reading situations, but even he could sense that something was up with Bojack. Normally he'd have chased down the other fighters and killed them as they fled. However, he'd just watched them retreat, barely moving an inch.

Surely it couldn't have been that child. Bujin had seen his boss murder children before without flinching, why should this one be any different?

Bojack was ruthless killer, feared across the cosmos. The countless acts of cruelty and piracy he'd committed across numerous galaxies before they were all imprisoned by the Kais had earned him a reputation; parents told their children the legends of his terrible exploits to get them to behave.

Had anyone else attacked in the manner that the Namek had, the huge green Heran would have torn them limb from limb; yet he just floated there, as though hypnotised - something was wrong.

"Argh!" grunted Bido as he powered up. He didn't know what was up with the boss, but he had no intention of allowing the fleeing fighters to get away.

"No!" bellowed Bojack. Still he didn't move, but his voice had taken on a chilling edge. "Let them go, they are of no concern for now." He turned and faced them. His earlier transformation into his full-power form had receded, his skin a darker teal colour again, his muscled body slightly more lean, but with the intimidating scowl returning to his face. This was a more familiar sight to his subordinates.

"The Kais are our priority. You can have your fun, Bido, once I have my revenge - once we've all had our revenge." He spoke with authority, as though his earlier wobble had been something they'd all imagined, but Bujin sensed that his boss's mind was still silently ticking over whatever it was had caused him to falter. Bojack continued outlining his plan.

"Zangya, follow those fighters. Listen to their discussions, but do not let them know that you're there. It is of the utmost importance that they do not know of our intentions. I want to know every word they say about the Dragonballs."

Zangya nodded. She didn't fully understand, but orders were orders and she knew better than test Bojack's patience, wobble or no wobble. She flew off in pursuit of Trunks and Vegeta without a word.

Bojack dispatched Bujin and Bido to collect supplies. The task was a little trivial, but he needed any excuse to get rid of them. He needed to collect himself.

He was shaken. The power that the child had expelled in his death throes eclipsed anything Bojack had ever felt. How could a boy of no more than 11 have had such power within him? It had felt bottomless, as though it would have been but a trifle for the child to have overwhelmed him. For the first time in his life, he'd felt genuine fear and Bojack did not like it at all.

Furthermore, he'd lost face in front of his soldiers. Not that he particularly cared what they thought of him; he could easily handle any insubordination, but their help would greatly facilitate the collection of his Dragonballs.

* * *

Zangya followed the two fighters at a distance, keeping her power level as low as she possibly could, so as to avoid detection. She'd been trailing them for hundreds of miles, rising higher and higher through the clouds. Sensing that they had landed just ahead of her, she slowed to a halt, masked by a thick white cloud. She pricked up her ears to a commotion.

"Trunks! Vegeta! Thank goodness you're okay!" cried a woman's voice. It was whiny and motherly.

Above, on Dende's lookout, Bulma grabbed at her husband and her son.

"Get off me woman, I'm fine," growled Vegeta, pushing her arm aside as he walked over to the entrance of the temple.

"Trunks, dear, are you hurt?" Bulma frantically assessed her son for any injury.

"I'm okay, Mother. Just a few cuts and bruises," stated Trunks dejectedly. He felt a tug at his arm, and turned to see Chi-Chi clinging on to his battle suit, her eyes wider even than his mother's.

"What about Gohan?" she pleaded. "He's okay, right?" tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.

"Piccolo has him..." Trunks just couldn't bring himself to say it outright.

"Look!" interrupted Krillin, pointing to the sky.

Zangya instantly thought she'd been compromised, and was ready to flee when she felt a presence pass by her. It was the tall green fighter with the child's limp form slumped over his shoulder. "It's Piccolo!" continued the voice.

What Zangya heard next chilled her.

"Oh no, Gohan..."

"**Gohan, my baby**!"

The despair of a mother who'd lost her child was something Zangya had never experienced before - they'd never stayed around for long enough after pillaging a planet. Although she'd never tell him, it never sat well with her when Bojack killed children. Hearing the woman's banshee-like wails only affirmed her disdain.

Thankfully, they didn't continue for long, and for a few hours, despite her extremely keen hearing, Zangya could hear nothing - indeed it was late in the evening before she heard another word from the Earthlings.

"What's next?" asked Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince had left the congregation inside the temple for some air; the eerie silence inside was stifling. He'd found Piccolo stood on the edge of the lookout - the Namek had been rooted to that spot since he'd returned with Gohan's body.

"I don't know, Vegeta." Speaking for the first time in hours felt good as Piccolo tore himself away from his tortured internal musing. "Bojack will likely find us soon, if he hasn't already, and none of us are strong enough to stop him." He was aware of how defeatist he sounded, but he didn't care.

Vegeta scoffed. "I'll be damned if I'm going to give in so easily, and you're a bigger fool than I thought if you're going to just roll over and die!"

"What do you suggest, Vegeta?" retorted Piccolo angrily. "None of us are capable of defeating Bojack and you know it! We may be able to hold them all off for a while, but to what end!?"

"Nonsense! Kakarot's son has bought us time - we need to regroup and be ready! We have the time chamber - we can train!"

"We can't, you and Trunks have used it twice already..."

"Heavens above, Namek!" bellowed the diminutive Saiyan. Stunned, Piccolo turned to face him. Vegeta's tone and expression softened as he continued. "Is this what he would have wanted of you? To stand by idle, whilst his friends and family die?"

Piccolo knew that this wasn't what Gohan expected of him, the words of the promise that the young Saiyan had forced him to make echoing in his mind.

"This is no time for inaction," stated Vegeta, his brow furrowed in frustration. The Prince's arrogance and pig-headedness were, for the first time in as long as Piccolo could remember, refreshing. "So I'll ask you again - what's next?"

* * *

Gohan rubbed his stomach and moaned. He'd been flying along Snake way for longer than he cared to imagine - the absence of a sun or a moon, or any other celestial body had made keeping track of the passing hours impossible. The repetitive scenery had dulled his mind into autopilot a long time ago, and he'd barely given a thought to the fact he hadn't eaten since before the tournament. What was there to eat in this place, anyway?

He pushed the pangs of hunger to the back of his mind and found a new turn of pace. He didn't have time to stop and eat - he needed to find his father and save his friends.

He flew along the winding pathway as it angled up into another dip. Although he'd found them fun at first, the novelty had soon worn off and they had started to make his empty stomach turn. This one was particularly high, but he continued with conviction; he sped up further still and spiralled up through a layer of cloud.

The view that greeted him was enough to make the youngster laugh. Out in the distance was a building; it looked big enough to be a palace, its walls and towers protruding from the surface of the soft orange cloud. Gohan was beside himself with glee - someone there was sure to know where his dad was! He blasted off along Snake way, a smile stretching across his face.

As he drew nearer, he made out a line of small white balls of energy lined up in single file along the pathway. He swooped lower to inspect more closely, only to hear voices - they were talking.

"We've been waiting here for hours!" exclaimed one. A few others made noises of agreement.

"We're doing our best, you'll just have to be patient!" came another voice - its owner sounded exhausted. Gohan looked up to see a man with blue skin, a moustache, a pair of glasses with a black frame, and - most unusually - small horns poking out of his hair. He was dressed in a shirt and tie, and was holding a clipboard.

_That guy must know what to do_, thought Gohan. After all, he did have a clipboard.

"Excuse me, Sir," asked Gohan politely as he landed in front of the blue man. "Which way do I go if I'm looking for someone?"

"Hey, kid! Move it, no pushing!" A chorus of angry shouts came from the souls queued up behind him. "Hey, how come he gets to keep his body!?" demanded one.

"Listen here!" replied the exasperated official. "Be quiet or you won't be seen by King Yemma at all today!" The scolded souls mumbled their discontent amongst themselves but dared not protest too loudly.

"I'm sorry young man, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait your turn to see King Yemma like everyone else."

"Oh," said Gohan, slightly deflated. "Do you know how long the wait will be?"

"Shouldn't be more than a couple hours," stated the official, turning to investigate some rowdiness further up the path. "The back of the queue's right up there," he added with a gesture before setting off to deal with the latest commotion.

Courteously, Gohan apologised to the disgruntled souls around him and took off for the back of the queue.

_Great_, he thought. _More time wasted_.

* * *

Piccolo looked at his friends. They were all gathered on the steps leading up to the lookout's temple.

None of them looked like they had had any sleep the previous night; they sat resolute and stony-faced. Krillin's head was slumped, the morning sun glancing off his bald, waxed dome. Chi-Chi looked totally drained, as though she lacked the energy to even sit up - cradled as though helpless by the supporting arm of her father, the Ox-King. The only one seemingly exempt from any visible grief, Vegeta, was leant on a pillar, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Listen up," announced Piccolo gruffly. "Bojack will know where we are by now. We need to decide on our plan of action!" Off in the distance, still secreted in her hiding place, Zangya was alert.

Piccolo addressed the dejected group. "The fact that we can wish our friends back to life does not make it easier to see them die." Vegeta exhaled forcibly with impatience, which earned him a glower from his wife.

Piccolo continued. "However, as horrible as yesterday was, we need to act. Gohan would not want us to sit here and do nothing!"

"We can't beat Bojack by ourselves, Piccolo. He's too strong," Trunks sighed, his chin resting in hands.

"Then we'll have to wish Gohan back," said the Ox-King, his eyes hopeful behind his glasses. "If he beat Cell, then I'm sure he can take this Bojack guy!"

"Then how come he didn't beat him yesterday?" questioned Yamcha.

"Gohan is strong enough," ensured Piccolo with a frown. "If he ascends past Super Saiyan like he did against Cell, I'm certain he can win."

"But you're forgetting that we used the Dragonballs to wish everyone Cell killed back to life - we can't use them again for nearly a year!" protested Krillin, lifting his head.

"Krillin's right," said Piccolo. "However..."

"We could ask Porunga," stated Dende with a smile. This suggestion caused an outbreak of general discussion amongst the Z fighters, their collective spirits raised significantly.

"How long would it take us to get to New Namek, Bulma?" asked Krillin, pacing backwards and forwards, scratching his head.

"I don't know, I'd have to plot our course first, silly!" she replied with a scowl, shaking her fist at the small, bald martial artist. "I may be a genius, but I'm not a fortune-teller!"

"Jeez!" gasped Krillin, retreating a few steps and sharing a wry smile with Yamcha.

Amidst the commotion of the various discussions and arguments, Piccolo walked over to Chi-Chi and crouched down in front of her.

"Chi-Chi?"

"Huh?" she replied, struggling to lift her head. She looked and sounded dazed; her face was red and puffy from crying.

Goku had left her on her own nearly a month ago by deciding not to be wished back to life, and now that she'd lost her son too, the fact that he could be wished back was tainted; Piccolo could see from the anguish in her eyes that it offered her no comfort to the deep hurt Gohan's death had caused.

"I know this is hard on you, Chi-Chi, but we will do everything in our power to bring him back. He made me promise to look after you, so now I'm promising you this - I will bring him back to you." Piccolo comforted her by placing a hand on her shoulder. Looking into his eyes, she nodded silently as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Piccolo stood up and demanded the attention of the debating Z fighters.

"Then it's settled," he barked. "We're going to New Namek!"

* * *

Gohan ran his hands through his hair, he was exhausted. He didn't know if there were nights in the Other world, but he could have done with one. He wanted nothing more than to replace his dirty orange and blue fighting gi with some fresh pyjamas, brush his teeth, and lay his head down on a soft goose-feather pillow, but he couldn't. He was stood in line. Still.

He now understood why those souls had been so unruly earlier - this was boring. The same stretch of pink sky and orange cloud had been all he'd seen for the last two hours; at least earlier he'd been able to feel like he was making progress!

He'd moved just less than a kilometre since the ogre, for that is what the official was - or so he was told - had sent him to the back of the waiting line. Finally, after waiting patiently, he had passed under a huge arch, the word "WELCOME" written across the front in huge lettering, and was within sight of a large, important-looking hall with horns sprouting from its roof.

"Next!" called an official who was dressed in a similar uniform to the one Gohan had encountered earlier, but without a moustache. Gohan walked in through a huge door and found himself in an even larger room.

He assessed the room with wide eyes; over a floor of brilliant yellow tiles, a strip of red carpet lead through up through the door and to the foot of a table that was easily four times Gohan's height. Sat behind it was possibly the biggest man Gohan had ever seen - and he was the Grandson of the Ox-King!

With a bushy beard and horns jutting from his hat, the man behind the desk looked similar to his Grandfather, though his skin was a deep pink. He was dressed in a purple pinstripe suit and was surrounded by office paraphernalia - however, his pen lid must have been at least the length of Gohan's leg.

"Hello, I am King Yemma!" announced the giant ogre, his cheek resting on the palm of his hand as he leant on his elbow. He looked like he was even more exhausted than Gohan was. "What is your name?" he enquired.

"My name is Gohan, Sir. I'm looking for my father, Goku - I was wondering if you could help me find him" replied the young Saiyan, hopefully.

"Wait…" This new voice came from across the room. "Wait a minute... did you just say 'Goku'?"

* * *

**A/N  
**_Just a little cliffhanger for you there, hopefully you're intrigued! I gave a little thought in this chapter as to how Gohan might deal with possibly having let his friends and family down - he may be meek, but he's a tough kid! Someone made a great point about how unlikely it was that Bojack's henchmen would have allowed the Z fighters to escape at the end of the last chapter, and whilst I had my reasons (as you can now see - epic dragonball hunt?), I'd never really thought about this in terms of their individual reasoning and reactions. I loved writing Vegeta in this chapter, I think he is just perfectly suited for keeping it together inemotionally charged situations!  
As I mentioned earlier, I have exams, so it will likely be a few weeks before Chapter Three, but it definitely is coming!  
__Again, I apologise for any silly spelling or grammatical errors!  
Please, please, please let me know what you think of the story or raise any issues that you have guys, they honestly helped me to write this chapter more than I'd anticipated! Thanks!_

_Cheerio!  
Sherbs_


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